6,652,000: More Americans Working Part-Time, But Not by Choice

Ali Meyer | June 5, 2015 | 9:38am EDT
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(AP File Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - Another 72,000 workers were working part time last month because their hours were cut or they couldn’t find full-time work.

The total number of involuntary part-time workers jumped to 6,652,000 in May, up from 6,580,000 in April, but well below the 7,268,000 in May 2014, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

According to BLS, involuntary part-time workers are “persons who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time (1 to 34 hours) because of an economic reason, such as their hours were cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs.”

That number has shown little movement in recent months.

“In May, 1.9 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 268,000 from a year earlier,” BLS said in its unemployment snapshot.

These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 563,000 discouraged workers in May, down by 134,000 from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.

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